La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § CLIX-111

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section CLIX-111 - Overview of the Early Learning and Development Standards

A. What ages are covered in the early learning and development standards?

1. The continuum of the early childhood and development standards is divided into five age levels: infants (birth-11 months), young toddlers (9-18 months), older toddlers (16-36 months), three-year-olds (36-48 months), and four-year-olds (48-60 months). These age levels were selected because they represent developmentally significant periods in a young child's life. However, it is important for educators to remember that young children's development is often uneven and progresses at different rates. Children may change dramatically in one area, while development progresses more slowly in another area. Children with disabilities may demonstrate even greater variation in their abilities to progress and reach developmental milestones.

2. Because children develop at different rates, there is overlap at the youngest age levels (birth-11 months/infants; 9-18 months/young toddlers; and 16-36 months/older toddlers). Some children may not reach all of the indicators described in the first age level by the time they are 11 months old. Likewise, some children under 16 months of age may display some of the skills and abilities that are listed at the older toddler level. The overlap reflects the fact that it is normal for children this age to vary a lot in when they demonstrate the skills and behaviors described in the indicators written for infants and toddlers.

NOTE: Children should know and be able to do the skills in each age range by the time they reach the end of that age level.

B. How are the standards organized?

1. The early learning and development standards are organized into five domains of children's development:

a. approaches to learning;

b. cognitive development and general knowledge (including content areas of creative thinking and expression, mathematics, science, and social studies);

c. language and literacy development;

d. physical well-being and motor development; and

e. social-emotional development.

2. These five domains represent major areas of development and learning, and define essential learning for school readiness and children's long-term success. The domains are designed to be interdependent and include all areas of children's learning and development. Each domain begins with a brief description of the domain and an explanation of why it is important for children's development and learning. Some ideas for promoting progress on the areas described in the standards are also offered. This description is followed by the standards continuum (sometimes called a "continuum" for short) for each domain. The continuum is a table that includes the standards and indicators for each age level. Louisiana has elected to arrange the indicators along a continuum so that all of the indicators for the age levels, infants to four-year-olds are included on the same row. This allows teachers and caregivers to easily look across the age levels to see the progression that a child might make toward the standard.

NOTE: The mathematics subdomain and the language and literacy domain include the alignment to the kindergarten common core for these two areas of development.

3. Each continuum is organized into subdomains which capture the specific areas of learning that make up the domain. For example, the domain of approaches to learning is divided into three subdomains: initiative and curiosity; attention, engagement, and initiative; and reasoning, problem-solving, and creative thinking.

4. Cognitive development is an area of development that is somewhat broader than the other domains. It includes the subdomain areas of creative thinking and expression, mathematics, science, and social studies. Each of these subdomains of cognitive development includes a description and explanation of its importance.

5. Within each subdomain is a set of standards and indicators. The standard is a statement that provides an overarching goal for skills and knowledge children should make progress toward. It provides a general statement of what children should know and be able to do that is applicable across age levels/groups.

6. The indicators provide more specific information about what children should know or be able to do at each age level. They are written for a specific age level and provide a description of the skills, knowledge, and/or characteristics a child should be doing to indicate progress toward the standard. The indicators typically do not represent expectations for the entire age range, but are a reflection of what children should know and be able to do at the end of each age level.

NOTE: The indicators do not have a one-to-one alignment across the different age ranges.

7. Each of the indicators is assigned a code that includes two numbers. This code appears at the end of each indicator in parentheses. The first number indicates age-level (i.e., 0=infants; 1=young toddlers; 2=older toddlers; 3=three-year-olds; and 4=4-year-olds), while the second number reflects the order of the item within the age level:

a. 0-4 -age level;

b. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. -indicator number.

8. For example, if an infant/toddler teacher is targeting standard 1 in approaches to learning, he/she might refer to specific indicators in the following ways, AL 1-0.1 or AL 1:0.1. Similarly, an older toddler teacher/caregiver might write an indicator as AL 1-2.1 or AL 1: 2.1.

9. Following the standards for each domain, there is a list of strategies to support development and learning. The strategies are intended to help teachers and caregivers think about how to best use the standards to guide what they do in the classroom. They are a guide for the type of teaching practices and interactions that adults can use to encourage children's progress on the indicators. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of strategies, but is a place to start when planning activities to support children's learning.

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CLIX-111

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 39:2447 (September 2013).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:6(A)(10).